The Awakening Ch. 11-20

Every man and woman in the room gasped. Caliope blushed and lowered her gaze. Even Heptanius hesitated before continuing to speak. When he finally did, his voice was as soft and tender as the one of a father talking to his children.

"Your Asteria is safe, and any one present in this room would rather die than let anything happen to her."

Amra nodded at him and allowed his words to settle his mind in peace. Both took a sit and Heptanius continued on the speech.

"...my brothers... my blood and soul belong to the cause... we have at our side the most powerful weapon ever created by our great sacred father, there is no way we will lose this fight... ease your minds, sit and relax, as we all begin to discuss our next course of actions."

The rest of the reunion continued on what Caliope already had expected. They talked about some past events, dark angels taking risks to do more public appearances, some were captured and resisted the hardest interrogatories by the toughest soldiers from the Generals, and some even had tried to manipulate them with their gifts. But no one managed to get anything from them. Last two weeks everything went silent, dark angels did not show publicly nor was any event registered worldwide. This had everyone tense and they only had two more dark angels in custody, they were afraid they were running out of options on how to test them.

Heraclius looked down and sighed "my brother is right, he has done everything he can to lead as a General and he never failed to protect what he had under his command, but this situation has exceeded everyone's expectations or predictions, we just do not know how to do this, or even what to do."

Someone identified before as Rednius raised his voice and added "Heraclius is right, I can put my hand on the fire for him, he has been a great leader and he hasn't done anything wrong."

"No one is accusing Heptanius of doing a bad job, Rednius and Heraclius, we are all in awe about these last actions from them and no one has ever imagined they would dare to do as much" Pronab finally cleared.

Another one who had been quiet before yet remained close to Heptanius expressed his concern "we are afraid there is a big hit prepared and we know nothing about this! We can't make them talk!"

Caliope raised her hand and quickly all turned their heads at her. Some reflected annoyance, some curiosity. Amra looked at her and she was a little nervous, but he squeezed her hand encouraging her to speak her mind.

"Speak child, please do not be afraid..."

"Thank you, Lord Heptanius... I am unaware of what techniques you have used to interview the dark Angels you have caught, and even though I am in complete shock that none has worked in your favor, I might have a suggestion..."

Amra nodded, as if he could read her mind, he could see what she was about to suggest. Heptanius was even more curious now, with a hand gesture he encouraged her to continue.

"Some weeks ago, a dark creature, I was told he was one of them, was caught outside my window spying on me..."

Everyone in the room looked at her frightened by the news on this event.

"Amra was able to hold him down, as we waited for Miss Clark and Pronab to arrive after I called them. He revealed a lot of information, perhaps useless to you all now, but the combination of Amra and Pronab was simply amazing, they made him talk, he just couldn't stop giving information. Maybe, if you would like to try, they could do it again."

"Such a brilliant child you are, Caliope! I was never told of this event, I could not have guessed! Pronab, why was I not informed of this?!"

Pronab tried to change the subject "she is right, that scum talked his guts out, we could try it again now with the ones you have... there is nothing more to lose anyway..."

"But why wasn't I informed of this?"

"It was personal, I decided it this way, now let's see your two locked prisoners..." Amra declared.

Heptanius was not happy but he could not express more than that, he was aware of the situation now and he was the first one to lead the gathering to the west of the residence. After walking down some stairs and passing thru some guards, they arrived to a big dungeon-like room. The darkness only covered the emptiness inside. Some fires were lit and the void was obvious.

Heptanius whispered to his side "brother, bring one down..."

--

Chapter 14

--

The thick wooden door on the end of the room opened and Heraclius pushed in what it look like a hooded man. Rednius and Keltop set side to side in front of Heptanius protectively. The hooded creature kept his head low until Heraclius located him on the center. The rest of the group kept its distance in a mix of curiosity with anxiety.

Once the hood was removed, Caliope gasped. He looked like a young man, normal, mid 30's at the most. The man looked around showing no sign of surprise to the gathering, but when his eyes met Caliope, he started to get uncomfortable.

"Take me away, I don't want to be here, I have nothing to say, take me back to the jails."

Heptanius looked in surprise and amusement at the same time. Observing how the man looked at Caliope then back to the doors expecting to be taken back. Heraclius squeezed his shoulder and held him tight. He showed a clear discomfort and a low growl.

"I am quite surprised, since we caught you, no word came out of your mouth that was not insults towards me, and curses as well, of course... and now, you seem, a bit scared!"

"I do not want to be here... take me back!"

"Let me introduce you to the new personalities in the room, I am sure that you will soon change your mind about not speaking to us... This is Amrafel..."

He stood there watching the man not move a muscle after hearing the name. This made him uncomfortable, but not as much as it caused him disgust. He continued.

"This is Pronab, one of the highest ranks in hierarchy in this earth..."

Same response, a growing discomfort on his face as the man did not even blink.

"...and this is Caliope..."

"She should not be here..."

Amra stood next to Caliope with a face that did not change. Pronab grew worried and walked towards the man.

"Whatever you have to say to us, it will be only the truth from now on..."

"And why would I talk to you?"

"You might be the most ignorant of all in this room, you might know who she is, but you are not aware of who she is with... which tells me your lack of knowledge in the higher ranks of the higher powers...

"I am not afraid of another Arch... we got rid of one, we can get rid of another one... She is a piece of a bigger puzzle to us, she should not exist..."

Everyone in the room became uncomfortable and serious; visibly upset as the man showed pleasure on the reaction he was provoking on them. Pronab kept his gaze on him shaking his head and growing a smirk. Amra squeezed Caliope's hand sensing her sadness at his words.

"And you just proved me right... you are an ignorant besides being an idiot... he is not an Archangel; he is an Arcane Angel..."

The man frowned, struggling on his locked place and looking with fear at Amra who seemed more concerned on putting himself between Caliope and him.

"It can't be... is not possible...!"

"We should stop wasting time, please Amrafel, let's start this questioning in our own way."

Pronab looked at Amra who nodded without taking his eyes on the man who was growing more afraid by the second. Heptanius enjoyed this new change of events as he was obviously upset with the lack of respect and cooperation from his prisoner. Amra then finally broke the eye contact and looked around to each and every person in the room. Everyone was paying attention.

"I will ask you all to relax... do not speak... only Heptanius, Pronab and myself will be doing the talking, besides our guest."

Some people nodded, some others kept quiet and still. Heptanius stepped closer and so did Amra and Caliope, who tried to let his hand go without success. He wanted her there safe, right next to him.

Suddenly the room felt heavy, Caliope took a deep breath as this sensation was something now familiar for her. The people in the room reacted in different ways, but Amra was now focused on the man who yelped. Pronab held his hand in front of him, palms up, and briefly that glowing chain Caliope saw once in her room was materializing in his hands. Heptanius stepped even closer, excited beyond belief. Pronab laid the chains around the man and he started to whimper and twist his body painfully.

"This are the Chains of Truth... in case you haven't heard about them before, let me tell you what it does... every time you tell a lie, it tightens around you... when you say the truth, it loosens some... I do not tell the Chains what to do, they are in contact with your core nature and they will know if what you say is true or not... I do not have to tell you what happens when the chains tighten too much... and something tells me no one will miss you once you are gone..."

Amra started with the interrogatory "what is your name..."

"You can't be an Arcane Angel! It's impossible!"

The chains tightened around him and he growled loudly.

"Avoiding the answer will be the same as lying, so you better save yourself troubles and start to speak up..."

"...my name is Buer..."

As predicted, the chains loosened a little on his body and this caused him relief. He relaxed some but grew worried.

"You know who she is... how?"

Buer frowned "we all know who she is... she should have never existed but we can't harm her..."

The chains tightened around him some and he yelped again, looking up at Pronab with concern.

"He asked how..."

"We have seen her grow, we have seen her before... we kept a distance, she did not awake... she is the daughter of our fallen leader Beleth..."

Heptanius looked at Caliope in shock, he was surprised and all that excitement from before was now gone. Amra closed his eyes briefly, and then opened them again to look at Pronab who nodded in response.

Pronab warned "she is now taken... she belongs to us..."

"She could never belong to you all!"

"She is now an Asteria... Amrafel's Asteria..."

Buer growled and frowned at this news, he was disgusted and in horror, as if this new relationship could ruin any plan or thought he had. After some long seconds of silence Heptanius spoke, not amused and with lack of any joy left in his voice.

"What happened to our Archangel? Where is he?"

Buer smirked "I do not know..."

The chains loosened some and this took everyone by surprise. Heptanius was now more worried, but much worse, he was out of words. All he could have thought to ask was now useless if he really did not know.

"Your orders, what were your orders?"

"I had to kidnap one of your soldiers and lead him back to the safe house... a place outside of the city where they would take him to another location that I did not know..."

"...our other prisoner knows you?"

"What other prisoner?"

Pronab turned his head to look at Heptanius, he nodded slowly.

"We caught someone who came before you, I assume each of them are told only what is necessary then send out without major knowledge... preventing the case of any of them being caught... The girl though, seemed to really be voiceless, not much we can take out of her like that."

"What happened to my father?"

Everyone in the room now turned their attention to Caliope, and Amra squeezed her hand tighter, shaking his head. She felt there was something there that they all knew but were not telling her. She was curious, but Amra's reaction now made her stand back and go quiet. But the question was made, and now Buer had to answer. He smirked again as he looked back at Caliope.

"Your new family killed him..."

Caliope gasped, the chains loosened another knot, and she closed her eyes biting her lip. A long silence took over the room; the thickness grew in the environment, making it visibly harder to breath for everyone. Caliope noticed this and gently pulled Amra's hand as she opened her eyes again searching for his, he turned his head to look at her, she smiled softly and the environment went lighter a tiny bit. In their eye contact she showed him she was ok, and this helped him focus back on the prisoner.

"What do you know about the way our Archangel was taken down?"

Buer frowned "all I know is that my people found a weapon, created with parts of ancient pieces from other creatures... something like your chains, but more powerful... they bound him, took him down, away. He is not in this realm anymore..."

Heptanius finally spoke "Since you do not know where he is... you will tell us where your people are..."

Buer smirked "don't you get it? They must be gone by now... we are soldiers, spendable soldiers... what we know is only what we need to know... if one gets caught, the others leave and move on..."

"How did you communicated with your superior?"

Buer frowned "I met him once a week in a Hotel..."

Heptanius continued "what day, what time, what hotel..."

Buer growled "Tuesdays at noon... Hotel Andronis..."

Heptanius finally smiled, now they had something to work with, a possibility of meeting someone else that had a higher rank, someone who could know more, give more information as well. Before anyone asked anything else, Buer locked his eyes on Caliope who was reflecting a sad gaze upon him. Buer was upset.

"...do not look at me like that..."

Caliope blinked in surprise, and Heptanius perked a brow as curiosity took over him again. Amra closed his eyes and then stepped aside letting Caliope face directly at Buer. By instinct she gave a step closer. Buer tried to back away.

"Stay away..."

Amra drew a grin in his face and finally spoke.

"Whatever she is, it is scaring you... and you should be scared... she will choose your fate... I am going to let her decide if we let you go or not..."

Caliope looked at Amra with curiosity, he was giving her so much power, and no one in the room seemed to object to his words. They were all afraid of him, but for something beyond belief, Buer was only afraid of her. The fact that she was surrounded by angels and her very own protector armed her in courage and she stepped some more towards him. Now there was only Pronab between them, and he stepped aside as well. Caliope looked back at Amra one more time, just to be sure. He nodded.

"Just do whatever you feel like doing... what your curiosity tells you..."

"Anything?"

"Everything..."

Heptanius now was visibly expectant. He stepped closer and watched Caliope look at Buer as she carefully walked in front of him. Then suddenly a voice echoed in her mind, a whisper, something soft but very clear.

""He is afraid of you... you have powers you never... we never imagined... let your curiosity guide you my Asteria...""

She looked back at him in shock, he nodded at her. She now remembered the first time she saw him, so long ago. She thought he was speaking to her without moving his lips, now he was confirming this. She swallowed hard and turned her gaze at Buer one more time, and started to wonder. Walking around him she thought to herself "What should I do?" and almost instantly a reply in her mind came from Amra.

""Do what you feel like doing... just be you...""

She took a deep breath and did exactly what she would do. She stretched her arm and with her fingertips she touched him. The room went dark, void spinning around her making her dizzy. She gasped and felt as she was falling from a never ending cliff. Her body was heavy as the endless fall continued, she started to panic. Desperately trying to find Amra she kept looking around but all she found was darkness. Then she hit bottom; the room went light just as fast, and she was now in a blurry scene, a restaurant, or a café. The place and people seemed unaware of her presence, as if she was an invisible creature. She turned her head to a side and saw Buer in a suit shaking hands of an older man, the face as clear as day. She felt as fear crawled up in her body, as the face of the person was one she had seen before, in the same house where all the angels gathered.

--

Chapter 15

--

Slowly he laid her on the king size bed. He was aware that she was pale and with low vital signs, but she was alive. Behind him Heraclius and Heptanius were discussing what to do with Buer with their trusted man while Pronab was on the phone talking to Elaine.

"Whatever you decide to do, it must be now, and we have already lost a large amount of time."

Heraclius nodded "brother, please decide now, let's put an end to this. Let me do it."

"In times of war, some lives must be taken..." another one spoke.

Heptanius nodded slowly to each of his advisors but his gaze was set on Amra, who sat next to Caliope. Their greatest hope was now under the influence of piece of a puzzle that no one prevented. He was unsure of their whole future and everyone now was looking at him for some light in their uncertainty.

Amra finally spoke "He will be taken down to the prisons until Caliope wakes up, something happened and it is of great importance that we know what first... if you just get QUIET... and leave us alone... please..."

The anger in his tone of voice made everyone rush out. As they started to leave the room, Amra stood up and signaled Pronab and Heptanius.

"I need you both to stay..."

They nodded and stood inside, Pronab made sure the door was closed before he walked towards the center of the room. Amra closed his eyes and sighed.

"I was hoping never have to influence in her with my powers, I promised her I would never do anything to interrupt the normal cycle of things... but this is something that requires a new approach... please hold on to something..."

As he mentioned these words, Pronab and Heptanius looked at each other confused. A couple of seconds later, as Amra continued with his eyes closed, he lifted both arms and a large tremble shook them all in the room. It was as if something had moved the very structures of the residence. Amra was glowing, a thin light that irradiated warmth. He rested a hand on Caliope's head and the glow expanded to her as well. Another tremble shook the floor again, and they could hear the others knocking on the door with alarm. They were not imagining this, it was happening.

"Wake up, my Asteria..."

Amra's words were more a plead. Slowly, the glow banished, and Caliope started to blink, opening her eyes. Pronab and Heptanius walked almost next to them.

Her sight was a little blurry, but she knew Amra was in front of her, and he was worried; a sad face as he was looking down at her. That sad face made her heart shrink with sorrow; she felt it was somehow her fault that he was suffering.

"I am sorry..."

Amra smiled and sat quickly next to her. The door opened with a slam but both Amra and Caliope were lost in their world as they gazed upon each other. Rednius, followed by a handful of men came inside.

"We have no idea what that was! My General! We are under attack!"

Pronab turned around and frowned at the intrusion, and Heptanius walked towards them trying to calm them down. He put a hand on Rednius shoulder excited and spoke to him lowly in order not to interrupt Amra and Caliope.

"It was just Amrafel's powers, there is no imminent danger my warrior, do not be afraid..."

He calmed down and felt embarrassed, apologizing with his eyes on Pronab. Amra took Caliope's hand and kissed her knuckles softly, watching her blush. It was his Caliope again, the one who blushed at his touch, and whose smile made him feel as if the world was in peace.

"You had us all worried, my Asteria... are you ok?"

Caliope nodded "I am well, I really am... I am very sorry I worried you..."

Pronab walked closer and smiled at Caliope, who turned her head towards him and smiled back.